Navy baseball primed for first NCAA tournament game since 2002

Jakob Engelke, The Baltimore Sun

To members of the Navy baseball team, it finally feels like they're back where they belong.

For the first time since 2002, the Midshipmen earned a berth to the NCAA tournament after winning the Patriot League title and the conference's automatic bid. For players and coach Paul Kostacopoulos, the program's absence from the postseason only made this year's appearance that much more gratifying.

"We haven't experienced it yet," senior pitcher Sam Long. "So it's great to get there, especially for the seniors who have been here for four years. It was satisfying to finally see some of the hard work pay off and get into the tournament."

Said Kostacopoulos: "To be able to build it back up again over the past couple years and to win the Patriot League and beat Army was great. It was an extremely resilient and dedicated group. They kept working and pushing to get over the hump."

Standing in the way of Navy winning its first NCAA tournament game in nine years, though, is a daunting opponent. The Midshipmen (33-23-1) face Virginia — the tournament's No. 1 overall seed and ACC champion — Friday at 1 p.m. in Charlottesville, Va. The rest of the regional consists of St. John's and East Carolina.

The Cavaliers (49-9) have sat atop college baseball's rankings all season long and dominated No. 5 Florida State, 7-2, to capture the Atlantic Coast Conference crown last month. But instead of viewing their matchup with Virginia as an insurmountable challenge, the Midshipmen see it as another chance to play the game they love with an added opportunity to do something unprecedented.

"Once we're on the field, we're equal. Previous accomplishments don't matter," Long said. "I think we can hold with anybody and play with anybody in the country. I view it as an opportunity to do something big and upset the No. 1 team in the country. No one else can say that."

"There's no weakness there. They do everything well," Kostacopoulos added. "But the great thing about baseball is anything can happen in one game. … Heck, if you're going to go through this thing, you might as well start with the best team in the country. That's a great way to get it going."

Navy earned a berth to the postseason for the first time in nearly a decade with a series-clinching 5-3 win over Army on May 24. Entering the sixth inning with a 3-1 deficit, the Midshipmen stormed back and scored three runs in a decisive rally to take the lead for good.

The win over Army capped a year in which Navy started with five straight losses before making marked improvements. With a roster dominated by underclassmen — 25 of Navy's 35 players and five of its nine probable starters are freshmen or sophomores — the Midshipmen experienced some growing pains early. But with a group of six seniors, it was their leadership and ability to mesh with the underclassmen both on and off the field that eventually led to the team's turnaround after the initial slow start, players said.

"Team chemistry was huge," senior catcher Jeff Bland said. "We got along as a team this year better than probably any team I've been on."

Navy's impressive season hasn't gone unnoticed. A conference-best six players were named to the All-Patriot League teams, with relief pitcher Wes Olson and designated hitter Dave Milanes highlighting the first team, and Long, pitcher Johnny Schoberl, first baseman Greg Dupell and second baseman Nick Driscoll earning spots on the second team.

Freshman pitcher/outfielder Taylor Cato and Kostacopoulos also garnered Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year honors, respectively.

"It's always great to have recognizable players who win awards, but here at Navy, it's more about us moving on and the group as a team," Kostacopoulos said. "We don't get it from one or two guys. We need everybody to pull the rope to succeed."

For the Midshipmen to do so, they'll need to accomplish at least one more first this year by beating Virginia, something Navy hasn't done since 1947.

"We're approaching it just like every other game," Long said. "We go out there to win. We play to win. Every player in the dugout has that approach. We're going to take it one game at a time. The approach will be the same for Virginia. It doesn't matter what it says across their chest or their background."